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Samsung's New 32-Inch 'M8' Display vs. Apple's Studio Display

jeffpeng said:
I must admit that I really do not care much for smart features on a monitor. AirPlay is a nice thing in theory, but then again: when you come home with your laptop you wanna charge it most likely anyway. Might as well plug it into your monitor then, eh? So I guess I would much prefer a better panel and for that skip the built in android set top box.
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The Smart Features are definitely not something I would go out of my way to look for in a monitor, but I can see them as being a solid "nice to have" in some scenarios. I can see this being useful in a bedroom or dorm where space is a premium and you want to have the monitor serve double-duty as a TV. This monitor has a remote, for starters, making binge-watching a bit more comfortable. It is also not always a given that people will charge their laptop on their desk - many people will just sit their bag in the corner and plug it in and only pull it out if they plan to work on it. In the bedroom scenario, there can also be one partner with the laptop toiling away at work while the other partner is at home eating bonbons and watching Netflix. Definitely not critical to "workflow", but definitely a nice creature comfort.
 
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Sorry if someone already mentioned this but correct me if I’m wrong the Apple display cannot be used as a dual OS monitor correct?? If I wanted to swap between work (windows) and personal (Mac) the Apple display only has one Thunderbolt input, right?
Please correct if I’m wrong. This is my biggest dislike about any current Apple monitor.
 
W2u7Yw4HaD said:
I'm still wondering why you buy the studio display vs a whole iMac which is nearly or similarly priced..? Ok, so that's only a 4k display.. But other than that? Either the display is too expensive or the iMac is too cheap.. :)
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4.5k. I think for most users the iMac is the better buy.
 
karen999 said:
TV is another story. Do you really sit at different distance when using 27" vs 32" monitors? Sitting much further than usual is not a pleasant experience for most and it defeats the purpose of having a larger monitor.
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How close do you normally sit to your display? Less than 25"?

I measured at my desk and I sit around 30-34" from my display. At a normal sitting distance for me, a 32" 4K display is would be "retina" resolution.

Using a laptop with arms in comfortable typing position, I'm sitting at around 25-28".

I think the only true justification for a 5K or 6K display is if you need a full resolution 4K video window with space for toolbars, dock, etc.

If you are reading text where you need the text to be a certain physical size to be legible (letters need to be at least 8mm tall as an example), having a bigger 4K monitor will give you more on screen than a smaller higher resolution display.
 
I use a 32" 4K Dell monitor for a few years. It's great. I do think it has a better panel than this M8 has, but I was impressed.

"32 inches at 4K resolution is a low res display (138ppi)."

Oh you innocents.

I came from a 30" Apple Cinema Display I used into the ground, so I know about this. At the distance a normal person sits from a 32" display, it's retina. Even my ACD wasn't annoying because it is so big that it helps gloss over it.

"If you are reading text where you need the text to be a certain physical size to be legible (letters need to be at least 8mm tall as an example), having a bigger 4K monitor will give you more on screen than a smaller higher resolution display."

No one talks about this, but it's true. For text based folks, 4K at 32" is a really sweet spot if you get one with a great panel. I don't know if this is one of them, but my Dell kills.
 
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At that price point, I think the Huawei Mateview is a more compelling option:

e23x5l4ucae5bsd-jpeg.1786054


Extremely Apple-like design language, higher DPI, and one of the only HIDPI monitors on the market to have a 3:2 aspect ratio for extra vertical space! It's 28", but because of the aspect ratio its desk footprint is only slightly above a 24" iMac. It's $900 CAD, so about $700 USD. Worth a look if you don't need an integrated webcam!
 
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I use the Samsung 32 inch Thunderbolt 3 curved display, about $700. It's 3440 x 1480 only, but it's very solid, though it doesn't have a camera.
 
MacRumors said:
our latest YouTube video to see […] whether you can save some money by going with a cheaper option.
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Uh… yes?

I’m all for setting achievable goals for yourself, but does it take a YouTube video to determine if the cheaper option saves money?
 
ahurst said:
At that price point, I think the Huawei Mateview is a more compelling option:

e23x5l4ucae5bsd-jpeg.1786054


Extremely Apple-like design language, higher DPI, and one of the only HIDPI monitors on the market to have a 3:2 aspect ratio for extra vertical space! It's 28", but because of the aspect ratio its desk footprint is only slightly above a 24" iMac. It's $900 CAD, so about $700 USD. Worth a look if you don't need an integrated webcam!
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Why does it look so washed out? Glare?
 
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Relentless Power said:
It looks like it was recorded through a potato. :D

Seriously though, Apple and Samsung both have a problems with their WebCams. I don’t understand why this technology can’t be improved significantly, when it’s been a drawback for years.
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Rene Ritchie has talked about the Studio's webcam being identical to the one in the latest iPad, and that we should expect it to have the exact same performance once the software is fixed.
 
Kevtech1 said:
Sorry if someone already mentioned this but correct me if I’m wrong the Apple display cannot be used as a dual OS monitor correct?? If I wanted to swap between work (windows) and personal (Mac) the Apple display only has one Thunderbolt input, right?
Please correct if I’m wrong. This is my biggest dislike about any current Apple monitor.
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You technically can use this with any machine supporting display output over USB-C/Thunderbolt. Quite a few laptops do, some desktop PCs do (some select GPUs feature USB-C out, usually for VR-Headsets, but they work fine with any compatible display).

But, correct, the Studio Display has one input, and one input only, so you would have to manually swap inputs. Also you cannot adjust any settings on the monitor itself without using a compatible Mac or iPad. Some of the functionality of the webcam and speaker array are lost (no center stage, no spacial audio). Also I've read some hints that sometimes the full resolution might not be achieved under windows, which might be due to bandwidth limitations on the used port - or due to other limitations I am not aware of.

In short: don't buy it as a windows monitor, not even in a dual use configuration.

Despite what many people are claiming: MacOS is perfectly useable with a 1440p monitor. Of course it's sharper with a retina display, and if that's something you can't live without your options really are pretty limited. But for dual use a decent 1440p screen with both DisplayPort and USB-C inputs should do fine.
 
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ahurst said:
At that price point, I think the Huawei Mateview is a more compelling option:

e23x5l4ucae5bsd-jpeg.1786054


Extremely Apple-like design language, higher DPI, and one of the only HIDPI monitors on the market to have a 3:2 aspect ratio for extra vertical space! It's 28", but because of the aspect ratio its desk footprint is only slightly above a 24" iMac. It's $900 CAD, so about $700 USD. Worth a look if you don't need an integrated webcam!
Click to expand...

Is that your setup? You should use the Huawei as the primary and the iMac as the secondary.
 
EugW said:
Why does it look so washed out? Glare?
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No clue, it's not my photo! Got it from this MR thread, hopefully someone in there asked a similar question and got an answer :)

For the record I don't own one, I have a pre-retina 27" iMac I use most of the time and a 7$ used 1600x1200 20" NEC IPS monitor I got at a university garage sale thing years ago. As much as I'd love to, I can't justify that kind of coin on something I don't really need for my line of work.
 
ahurst said:
At that price point, I think the Huawei Mateview is a more compelling option:

e23x5l4ucae5bsd-jpeg.1786054


Extremely Apple-like design language, higher DPI, and one of the only HIDPI monitors on the market to have a 3:2 aspect ratio for extra vertical space! It's 28", but because of the aspect ratio its desk footprint is only slightly above a 24" iMac. It's $900 CAD, so about $700 USD. Worth a look if you don't need an integrated webcam!
Click to expand...
Where can one buy this in the USA?
 
ahurst said:
No clue, it's not my photo! Got it from this MR thread, hopefully someone in there asked a similar question and got an answer :)

For the record I don't own one, I have a pre-retina 27" iMac I use most of the time and a 7$ used 1600x1200 20" NEC IPS monitor I got at a university garage sale thing years ago. As much as I'd love to, I can't justify that kind of coin on something I don't really need for my line of work.
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Especially when you can get a “good enough” 4k 28” monitor for $250…
 
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